Springfield surges past Warriors
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MINERAL RIDGE -- Despite falling into an early deficit, Springfield got the best of Brookfield in the opening round of the OHSAA playoffs on Wednesday night.
The 21st-seeded Tigers dropped the first set, but bounced back for the 3-1 victory over the 20th-seeded Warriors in a Division VI, Northeast 3, sectional final at Mineral Ridge.
"I think we just had a little bit of nerves since it’s the first playoff game," Springfield coach Caitlin Barbour said. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, so that got to us a little bit. Then we found our energy, found our hustle and we put it all together after that."
In the opening set, Springfield led until Brookfield rallied to tie it at 19. The Warriors then narrowly closed out the set 25-23, capitalizing on some unforced errors by the Tigers for an early 1-set lead.
Despite a tight start to the second set by both teams, Springfield built a late lead and went on to close out the set 25-21 to level the match at one-set apiece. During the set, Springfield's Makenna Wymer tallied her 1,000th career assist.
The Tigers then captured the third set in similar fashion, holding on 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
"I think Springfield just had a lot more momentum than us and they were finishing," Brookfield coach Madison Furillo said. "They had a lot more hustle plays than we did, and we just kind of let them have it. We really need to just learn to let go of a point and get the next one."
Late in the fourth, Brookfield looked to be on the verge of forcing a fifth and deciding set, holding a 18-16 lead. But Springfield battled back, mounting a 9-0 run to close out the set 25-18 and finish off the match.
"I think we just needed to go back and follow the game plan," Barbour said. "We got away from it a little bit, and we went back to that. We had great hustle on the court and executed what we were supposed to do to make a comeback."
The victory for the Tigers (8-15) sets up a district semifinal matchup with No. 2 seed Mineral Ridge on Monday. The Rams beat Waterloo 3-0 in the second match of Wednesday's doubleheader.
"We're going to have to play our best," Barbour said. "They're a really good team. They're in our conference. We've played them twice already, and if we can hustle and put things together and follow the game plan, we'll give them a run for their money."
The Warriors finish the season 9-13. But with just one senior, Brookfield is set to return almost the entirety of its varsity roster next year.
"We're really young. We only have one senior and one junior playing varsity, so we're going to come back with almost the same team next year," Furillo said. "We're predominantly all freshmen and sophomores. What we lack in skill and maturity, we're going to continue to grow over the next couple years."